All commercial passenger aircraft include a cabin management system for control or monitoring of various aspects of the cabin environment, for example call bells, cabin lighting, heating, and ventilation, cabin intercom, emergency and galley systems.
Usually the cabin management system comprises a server or control computer that is connected by wired connections to user input devices at each passenger seat, for example call bell buttons and lighting circuitry, and to cabin heating, lighting, ventilation and other systems. The server or control computer is also connected via a wired connection to a flight attendant panel that includes various inputs and outputs (for example buttons, screen, keyboard and/or mouse) that allows flight attendants to monitor and control aspects of the cabin environment via the server or control computer, and to monitor call bell signals from individual passengers.
It can be time consuming and complex to install known cabin management systems and to connect them to passenger input devices at each seat. Furthermore, it is common in commercial aircraft to alter seat arrangements and spacings on a regular basis, for example increasing or decreasing the number of economy or business class seats depending on the route and season for which an aircraft is being used, and such changes in seat arrangements and spacings require disconnection and reconnection of passenger input devices to the cabin management system and, in many cases, the reconfiguration of the cabin management system, which again can be time consuming and costly. Any faults in components of the cabin management system can result in costly repair or maintenance procedures or in reduced level of passenger service.
In addition, known cabin management systems are usually specific to particular aircraft and it can be difficult to alter aspects of the system if desired. For example changes to different aspects of the system may require additional safety certification to be obtained.
In some known aircraft systems, the cabin server or control computer is also connected via wired connection to in-flight entertainment system terminals at each passenger seat. In such known systems, passenger input to the cabin management system (for example, call bell activation or lighting control) can be provided via handheld user input devices for the in-flight entertainment system or via soft buttons or other touch-screen inputs on a display screen of the entertainment system terminal. Passengers have increasingly high expectations of in-flight entertainment systems and the in-flight entertainment that is available can be a significant factor for passengers when selecting an airline. The up-dating and improvement of in-flight entertainment systems is made more complex when there is a need to ensure that the in-flight entertainment system, or associated components, can also be used to provide user input to the cabin management system that is specific to a particular aircraft. That also makes it more difficult to provide in-flight entertainment systems that can be used in stand-alone way in a variety of different aircraft, which is becoming increasingly desirable.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide improved or at least alternative apparatus and methods for communication between aircraft systems and devices.